The release of glutamate at synapses at many sites in mammalian forebrain stimulates two classes of postsynaptic, ionotropic receptors. These classes are usually referred to as AMPA/quisqualate and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors. AMPA/quisqualate receptors mediate a voltage independent fast excitatory post-synaptic current (the fast EPSC), whereas NMDA receptors generate a voltage-dependent, slow excitatory current. Studies carried out in slices of hippocampus or cortex indicate that the AMPA receptor mediated fast EPSC is generally the dominant component by far at most glutamatergic synapses.
AMPA receptors are not evenly distributed across the brain but rather are largely restricted to the telencephalon and cerebellum. These receptors are found in high concentrations in the superficial layers of neocortex, in each of the major synaptic zones of hippocampus, and in the striatal complex, as reported by Monaghan et al., in Brain Research 324:160-164 (1984). Studies in animals and humans indicate that these strictures organize complex perceptual-motor processes and provide the substrates for higher-order behaviors. Thus, AMPA receptors mediate transmission in those brain networks responsible for a host of cognitive activities.
For the reasons set forth above, drugs that modulate and thereby enhance the functioning of AMPA receptors could have significant benefits for cognitive and intellectual performance. Such drugs should also facilitate memory encoding. Experimental studies, such as those reported by Arai and Lynch, Brain Research 598:173-184 (1992), indicate that increasing the size of AMPA receptor-mediated synaptic response(s) enhances the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). LTP is a stable increase in the strength of synaptic contacts that follows repetitive physiological activity of a type known to occur in the brain during learning.
Compounds that enhance the functioning of the AMPA form of glutamate receptors facilitate the induction of LTP and the acquisition of learned tasks as measured by a number of paradigms. See, for example, Granger et al., Synapse 15:326-329 (1993); Staubli et al., PNAS 91:777-781 (1994); Arai et al., Brain Res. 638:343-346 (1994); Staubli et al., PNAS 91:11158-11162 (1994); Shors et al., Neurosci. Let. 186:153-156 (1995); Larson et al., J. Neurosci. 15:8023-8030 (1995); Granger et al., Synapse 22:332-337 (1996); Arai et al., JPET 278:627-638 (1996); Lynch et al., Internal. Clin. Psychopharm. 11: 13-19 (1996); Lynch et al., Exp. Neurology 145:89-92 (1997); Ingvar et al., Exp. Neurology 146:553-559 (1997); Hampson, et al., J. Neurosci. 18:2748-2763 (1998); and Lynch and Rogers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,492. There is a considerable body of evidence showing that LTP is a substrate of memory. For example, compounds that block LTP interfere with memory formation in animals, and certain drugs that disrupt learning in humans antagonize the stabilization of LTP, as reported by del Cerro and Lynch, Neuroscience 49: 1-6 (1992).
A prototype for a compound that increases AMPA receptor function was described by Ito et al, J. Physiol. 424:533-543 (1990). These authors found that the nootropic drug aniracetam (N-anisoyl-2-pyrrolidinone) increases currents mediated by brain AMPA receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes without affecting responses by γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), kainic acid (KA), or NMDA receptors. Infusion of aniracetam into slices of hippocampus was also shown to substantially increase the size of fast synaptic potentials without altering resting membrane properties. It has since been confirmed that aniracetam enhances synaptic responses at several sites in hippocampus, and that it has no effect on NMDA-receptor mediated potentials (Staubli et al., Psychobiology 18:377-381 (1990) and Xiao et al., Hippocampus 1:373-380 (1991)).
Aniracetam has been found to have an extremely rapid onset and washout, and can be applied repeatedly with no apparent lasting effects, which are desirable features for behaviorally-relevant drugs. Aniracetam does present several disadvantages, however. The peripheral administration of aniracetam is not likely to influence brain receptors. The drug works only at high concentrations (approx. 1000 μM), and about 80% of the drug is converted to anisoyl-GABA following peripheral administration in humans (Guenzi and Zanetti, J. Chromatogr. 530:397-406 (1990)). The metabolite, anisoyl-GABA, has been found to have less synaptic activity than aniracetam.
A class of AMPA receptor-modulating compounds that does not display the low potency and inherent instability characteristic of aniracetam has been described (Lynch and Rogers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,492). These compounds, termed “Ampakines”®, can be substituted benzamides, which include, for example, 1-(quinoxaline-6-ylcarbonyl)piperidine (CX516; Ampalex®). Typically, they are chemically more stable than aniracetam and show improved bioavailability. CX516 is active in animal tests used to detect efficacious drugs for the treatment of memory disorders, schizophrenia, and depression. In three separate clinical trials, CX516 showed evidence for efficacy in improving various forms of human memory (Lynch et al., Internat. Clin. Psychopharm. 11: 13-19 (1996); Lynch et al., Exp. Neurology 145:89-92 (1997); Ingvar et al., Exp. Neurology 146:553-559 (1997)).
Another class of Ampakines, benzoxazines, has been discovered to have very high activity in in vitro and in vivo models for assessing the probability of producing cognition enhancement (Rogers and Lynch; U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,543). The substituted benzoxazines are rigid benzamide analogues with different receptor modulating properties from the flexible benzamide, CX516.
Certain substituted benzofurazan and benzothiadiazole compounds have been found to be significantly and surprisingly more potent in the animal model of schizophrenia than previous compounds, and are also effective in cognition enhancement. These compounds are structurally similar to those disclosed in Lynch and Rogers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,543.
Previously disclosed structures that contained the 1,3-benzoxazine-4-one pharmacophore were substituted on the benzene portion by heteroatoms, such as nitrogen or oxygen (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,736,543 and 5,962,447), by substituted alkyl groups (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,650,409 and 5,783,587), or unsubstituted (WO 99/42456). Yet another class of 1,3-benzoxazine compounds contained a carbonyl external to the oxazine ring (U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,278), but not as a substituent on the benzene ring structure. Now, a new class of carbonyl-substituted benzoxazine compounds has been discovered that displays significant activity on hippocampal synaptic responses and neuronal whole cell currents mediated by AMPA receptors and in animal models of cognition and memory. Carbonyl-substituted 1,3-benzoxazine-4-one structures are the first molecules shown to be active as AMPA receptor modulators that have two heavy atoms branching from the same atom alpha to the benzene ring at the 6- or 7-position.

The biological activity of the 6- or 7-carbonyl-substituted 1,3-benzoxazines was unexpected and the potency at the AMPA receptor was surprisingly high; the most potent 1,3-benzoxazines are members of this class of compounds. These compounds are disclosed herein.